Strategic List Building for Maximum Results
In today’s saturated outbound world, conversational prospecting and social warming are your last unfair advantages. Here’s how to build the right lists to 4x your response rates.
Written By Thomas Durand
Last updated About 2 months ago
1. Prospect Warm-up
Turn ice-cold prospects into warm conversations before outreach. Build familiarity and recognition so they actually want to respond to your messages.
Expected results:
4x higher response rates vs cold outreach (40%+ vs 10% industry average)
25% of prospects initiate conversations before you reach out
80% connection acceptance rates vs 30% cold
Shorter sales cycles due to pre-built trust
Who to include:
ICP prospects you plan to reach out to in 30-90 days
Event attendees you met but haven’t contacted yet
LinkedIn connections that went cold
High-value referrals waiting for “right timing”
☝️ Pro tip: Warm up prospects for 2 weeks before outreach. Use Warmr’s tone matching to ensure comments sound authentically like you.
☝️ Pro tip: use our kickass feature “indirect post” to warm up prospect that are not active on linkedin. Warmr will create a custom feed with posts that your prospect will see on their feed. this way, you meet them in the right comment section.
Super powerful.
2.Active Deal Acceleration
Keep momentum during long sales cycles. Stay visible to decision makers and influencers within target accounts without being pushy.
Expected results:
30% faster deal velocity
Higher win rates on complex, multi-stakeholder deals
Better relationships with buying committee members
More internal champions advocating for you
Who to include:
Current prospects in your sales pipeline
Decision makers you haven’t connected with yet
Influencers and stakeholders within target accounts
Champions who could advocate internally
☝️ Pro tip: Use Warmr to celebrate their professional wins and industry insights. This builds rapport without sales pressure.
☝️ Pro tip: Use warmr shared list feature to adopt a ABM strategy on target account. Comment as a team to multiple the number of touch point and increase the visibility of you company.
3. Client Retention & Growth
Deepen existing client relationships to increase retention, expansion, and referral generation. Your highest ROI list.
Expected results:
60% higher renewal rates through stronger relationships
3x more referrals from engaged clients
40% more expansion opportunities
Earlier visibility into potential churn risks
Who to include:
Key stakeholders at current client companies
Implementation teams and daily product users
Previous clients with positive experiences
Client executives who could provide testimonials
☝️ Pro tip: This is your highest-value list—existing clients are 50% more likely to buy additional products and provide referrals.
☝️ Pro tip: Engage with their company wins and industry challenges, not just product-related content. Just be cool.
4. Ghost & Stalled Revival
Re-engage prospects who showed initial interest but went quiet. Play the long game to capture deals when timing improves.
Expected results:
Revive 20-30% of stalled opportunities
Convert 15-20% of “not now” prospects within 6 months
Higher brand recall when prospects are ready to buy
Reduced customer acquisition costs
Who to include:
Prospects who engaged initially but stopped responding
“Not ready now” leads from previous quarters
Demo attendees who didn’t convert
Trade show leads that went cold
☝️ Pro tip: Most deals happen on the 7th-12th touchpoint, but most reps give up after 3. Patience pays off here.
☝️ Pro tip: Zero sales pressure—just consistent, value-driven engagement until timing improves. stop sending those “did you get a chance to have a look at…”. If the prospect does not want to tchat about that, just don’t. It will pay off
5. Authority & Credibility Building
Build industry credibility by engaging with thought leaders your prospects follow. This creates social proof at scale.
Expected results:
+300% weekly profile impressions
Higher perceived expertise and authority
Inbound interest from engaged audiences
Credibility transfer from respected industry figures
Who to include:
Industry thought leaders and analysts
Popular content creators your prospects follow
Podcast hosts and conference speakers
Researchers and trend-setters in your space
☝️ Pro tip: When prospects see you engaging intelligently with people they respect, credibility transfers to you.
☝️ Pro tip: Provide expert-level commentary, not just “Great post!” Show your knowledge and perspective.
☝️ Pro tip: Don’t comment on ALL THE POSTS. You might look like someone that is here of visibility. Use the Topic feature on Warmr to make sure you comment posts that are related to your expertise 🙂
6. Strategic Partnership Network
Build relationships that lead to partnerships, integrations, and mutual referrals. Focus on long-term relationship building.
Expected results:
25% more partner-sourced opportunities
Stronger integration and referral partnerships
Earlier access to market trends and opportunities
Collaborative business development deals
Who to include:
Complementary service providers
Potential integration partners
Companies serving same ICP with different solutions
Referral partners in adjacent industries
☝️ Pro tip: Focus on how you can help them first, the best partnerships start with genuine mutual support.
☝️ Pro tip: Look for collaboration opportunities in their content to comment on, not just promotional posts.
The Competitive Advantage
While your competitors send cold emails to strangers, you’ll be having warm conversations with people who already recognize and trust you.
The difference?
Moving from 8-12% cold response rates to 50-60% warm response rates.
From fighting for attention to being welcomed into conversations.
In today’s noise-filled market, familiarity isn’t just an advantage, it’s the only sustainable way to consistently hit your numbers.
Ready to transform your outbound results? Start with one strategic list and watch your pipeline quality improve immediately.